Post-2015 Education Indicators Consultation

From November 2014 to January 2015, the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) on post-2015 education indicators conducted a global survey on its monitoring proposals.

Almost 200 organizations and individuals from 67 countries participated in the public consultation, which gathered a rich array of feedback from representatives of civil society, academia, development partners, governments and other stakeholders.

New indicators resulting from the consultation

Following the consultation, the TAG has added indicators to its original list, while others have been revised.
Major changes stemming from the public consultation include:

Three new indicators to better capture inequalities not only in education results but also in education systems (e.g. related to language of instruction, targeting of resources to disadvantaged populations, and the share of education expenditure borne by households);

Three new indicators to capture the curricular focus on education for sustainable development: global citizenship education, HIV and sexuality education, and human rights education;

Two new indicators to capture the availability of information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure in schools;

A new indicator on the availability of infrastructure and materials for people with disabilities in schools; and

A new indicator on the number of attacks on students, personnel and institutions. In addition, the need to monitor the educational participation of children and adolescents in conflict situations, in particular among refugee and displaced populations, was recognised.

Equity, learning and education quality – more indicators needed

Most consultation participants agreed that equity is a key focus of the post-2015 measurement agenda. They stressed the need for more indicators to measure disparities in the distribution of learning opportunities, as well as the inputs and processes (e.g. trained teachers, school conditions, etc.) related to education systems. It is important to note that the TAG proposal includes disaggregation of every indicator where feasible by at least three individual characteristics that allow scope for global comparisons (i.e. sex, location and wealth).

Another major concern for the consultation participants was the measurement of learning outcomes in basic education. Some felt that the focus on two subjects (reading and mathematics) was justified, whereas others argued that it risked reducing the scope of education.

For thematic monitoring, the TAG urges a comprehensive yet pragmatic approach. Currently, measures of reading and mathematics are more widely available with greater comparability across countries. Yet the TAG also acknowledges the importance of other areas of education and strongly encourages efforts to develop measures for other subjects.

The consultation also underscored the different views on the use of national or international standards to measure learning. The TAG believes that, in order to monitor the success of the post-2015 agenda, it is necessary to develop a shared understanding of what competencies children and adolescents need to acquire at each education level drawing on a common standard.